Last Duel of No Regrets
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: [post-series] Ryou didn't want to die without another duel with Juudai.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Written for the 100 Prompts, 100 MCs challenge at the GX Writing Academy, prompt #100 – coronary thrombosis.

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**Last Duel of No Regrets  
**_Chapter 1_

Ryou spread his deck over the blanket that covered his legs. Anything more strenuous, and the monitors attached to him would scream and alert a nurse. Anything else, and his mind would drift: drift to those other times he'd felt the weak heart in his chest cease its struggling beats.

He wondered if he was really dying this time. He wouldn't be too disappointed if he was. He was old – not nearly so old as to sprout grey hairs or become an uncle (since he'd never wished to marry himself) or to need to retire from the pro circuit of evolving duellists and duels if it wasn't for his health.

But he'd accomplished a lot. When he'd thought he was dead he was happy then with one final duel and he was happy now. He'd come back from that no-man's land and watched his brother and his deck grow. He'd built a new one for himself, from the ground up, that could match that new sight, and new goal. To continue growing – that was something he'd stopped doing back then, thinking he'd hit the wall of perfection.

It wasn't only Judai who could transcend perfection. Everyone could.

The cards on his lap now, they were proof of that. Recovering from his operation and his reputation in the professional duelling world, he came back as a new person with a new deck and struggled from the bottom of the circuit. He wanted more than to win, then. He wanted to prove this new thing he'd discovered: this evolving deck, this evolving duel, that had been born from all his time at the Academia.

And he did that, and they began the new duelling circuit. Evolving duels.

But now his heart was catching up to him again. After the evolving duels had kicked off with Shou in the lead – one of the bright stars of the old duelling world – and Ryou, the "Kaiser to kouhei" duellist who had crawled back into the ranks with his new deck and strength. He didn't mind pulling back now. Those extra years he'd gotten – he'd duelled hard in them.

His only regret now was that he hadn't been able to have the rematch he'd waited eight years for.

'Hey,' he said. 'Do you think he'll show up?'

His cards didn't answer. He wasn't one of those people who could see spirits. And he didn't need to be. He was his own sort of duellist, who grew with a different skill set and knowledge bank. Those things which were collected in the deck in front of him, and in his heart.

'Ni-san, you're not over-exerting yourself, are you?'

Ryou looked at his brother, sliding the door open so he could enter the room.

'I'm just looking at my deck.' Ryou smiled. 'Unless you'd like to play with me a little?'

'I'm sorry, Ni-san.' But Shou was smiling, so Ryou surmised that meant something better than a quick duel with his little brother. 'You have guests.'

'Oh?' He craned his neck a little – but it turned out he didn't need to, because Fubuki poked his head around the door.

'Yo,' he said, waving a hand. 'You're a sight for sore eyes, aren't you.'

'Use the antiseptic,' Shou cautioned, pointing at a squirt bottle at the end of the bed. Fubuki laughed and said mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "mother hen", but he obeyed, squirting a little of the pink liquid onto his palms and rubbing them together. Asuka followed her brother.

'Fubuki, Asuka.' Ryou nodded to them. 'Graduation finished?'

Asuka nodded. 'I thought I'd come home for a bit before heading out to Australia.'

'Australia?' Ryou raised an eyebrow at that. 'South Academy?'

Asuka nodded again. 'Their school year starts in January, but Jim said there were a few things he wanted to show me before that, so I was thinking of leaving around October. Australia has some good tourist sights, so I should be able to squeeze in a little country-wide tour as well.'

'I get three months with my little sister at least.' Fubuki draped a hand over Asuka's shoulder, only to be swatted away. 'Cold, imouto. Cold.'

'Sure, Ni-san.' Asuka rolled her eyes, before turning to Ryou. 'Were you arranging your deck?'

'No,' Ryou said truthfully. 'Just looking at my cards.'

'He's been itching for a duel,' Shou spoke up. 'With Aniki.'

The Tenjoin siblings looked at each other. Fubuki whistled. 'That's a tall order,' he said. 'I haven't heard from him in…how long has it been?' He counted off his fingers. 'More than a year at least.'

'I got a text from him during graduation,' Asuka added. 'Though when I tried to reply back, it said the number was disconnected.'

'I've had the same problem,' Shou said. 'But I think Aniki will show up on his own. He has a way of doing that.'

'Like the wind?' Fubuki laughed. 'Yes, he does do that. Remember my first pro duel?'

'It could have been somebody else's tail hair.' But they liked to think it was Judai anyway. But whoever it had been hadn't stuck around long enough to be seen more closely. Just long enough to witness the end of the duel, stand with the others applauding Fubuki as the winner, and then vanish into the crowd.

'And when the evolving circuit launched.' Ryou smiled. That had been the last time he'd seen Judai face to face actually. There with most of their friends from the Academia and the pro circuit, to wish their new circuit well. But they'd been able to contact him then. It had been more than a year since calls and text messages no longer went through. That probably meant he was somewhere without reception. In the far reaches of this world…or in another one altogether.

They slipped into a calm swirl of past memories: those precious memories they'd built at the Academia together, and beyond. Three years had passed since. Asuka had graduated with her bachelor's degree and was moving on: forever learning, forever sharing her knowledge as was her dream. Fubuki had taken his unique duelling style to the professional stage – and it was beginning to spread. Duelling performers were starting to spring up in the youth leagues and at the Academias scattered around the world, following the image Fubuki had thrown up to the world. And Shou and Ryou had managed to kick off their newfound dream as well before Ryou's body had failed him again.

But he still had a smile on his face and he could laugh. Those were the important things, surrounded by family and friends and his cards. And Asuka and Fubuki – and even Shou, though Shou had been by his side for so long Ryou wondered if he'd have missed the look if it had slowly crawled in…

'Ni-san?'

No, not that he could see. Just worry – and how could someone step in to a hospital room, even a private well-furnished and relatively colourful one like his – without a look of worry on their faces. Or…he supposed there were people in the world who could walk into hospital rooms with completely stoic expressions on their faces and in their eyes. Maybe more experienced doctors and nurses. Maybe not. Maybe that wasn't something that came from experience.

'Sorry,' he apologised, smiling at Shou. 'I was just thinking.'

Fubuki looked as though he was about to ask what, but Asuka spoke before him. 'Edo's having a duel tonight. Is your television covering the channel?'

Ryou shrugged and gestured at the laminated piece of paper near the remote: the one that told which channels were available. Asuka grabbed it and skimmed over it, then shook her head. 'It's not on here.'

Ryou supposed he shouldn't have been too surprised. Major league matches were covered on channels that any working television could access, but others were available only on specific channels. He'd heard about Edo's upcoming match only because Edo himself had forwarded the details to him. Probably because he didn't want his friend missing it.

But Shou could bring his laptop and that little data stick and they could watch it together. Except Asuka volunteered her laptop and data-stick – which she had for research purposes, she said, as a bit of side-line thing while gaining her degree, and Ryou shrugged and agreed. The four of them watching would be nice. They'd used to do that before Duel Academia. When Shou was just a little dreamer who could barely hold a card and Asuka was a loud and determined girl climbing over her brother's lap every second to see the screen. Looking at her now, one wouldn't have guessed it – or maybe they would.

_She's still a strong, independent woman, _Ryou thought.

Asuka caught the stare and raised an eyebrow. 'Just thinking of back when we were kids,' Ryou smiled. 'When Jonouchi and Mai and Kaiba used to duel on the pro stage and we'd watch them.'

Asuka blushed a little. Fubuki laughed. 'We'll need popcorn too.'


	2. Chapter 2

**Last Duel of No Regrets  
**_Chapter 2_

They did get the popcorn. And Asuka's laptop and data stick and she'd said that anyone who got butter on her keyboard or in the circuit would be cleaning it with an earbud. Or paying for its cleaning of the culprit was Fubuki.

Which caused said male to point out he took great care in maintaining his guitar. Including constantly restringing it, and _not_ getting any crumbs or other stains on it, contrary to popular belief. Shou had laughed and added something about Manjyoume's black jacket – that he still wore, though now it was a little too short. He'd keep wearing it though, he said, until he found "the perfect replacement". Asuka believed he wasn't really looking – or else was worse than Junko and Momoe when it came to picking clothes. Fubuki just figured he wasn't up to the effort of changing it.

Ryou chuckled quietly as he listened and watched. Of his brother's friends, Manjyoume he knew the least. He'd been gone from the stage by the time the youngest of the Manjyoume brothers had arrived on it. He'd arrived at Duel Academy during his graduation year and been at another school for a good portion of it…and, at the match, Ryou had honestly been paying more attention to Judai's duelling than his opponent. He had to admit it: he hadn't thought much of that person back then. Though he'd seen enough to appreciate the lengths he'd come when he'd seen the reply of his duel with Edo. And not only because he could respect that beating Edo was no easy task at all.

And keeping one's pride in tact in front of Edo was no easy task either. Though, in his opinion, it was Judai who'd scraped his pride off the bottom of the barrel and handed it back. But it was a moot point either way.

The duel was starting and the conversation was dropped in favour to watch it.

**.**

Edo hadn't lost any of his sharpness after his defeat at Manjyome's hands, though his reputation had gone through a bit of sledging. Much like Ryou had found his own had after Edo defeated _him_. A sign of how cruel the professional world could be; how much one duel could matter.

But, unlike Ryou, Edo's duelling skills didn't collapse like a pile of cards. His being didn't collapse. He didn't wander, half blind, searching for that thing that had had held him up over the years. That thing that had made him strong. Edo had discovered it earlier. With Judai perhaps. With that secret duel that few people saw, and only a few more heard about. A duel that had somehow stayed away from the ears of the media. Maybe because so many other things had happened at the same time. Maybe because it targeted Duel Academia's reputation as well as Edo's professional career. Asuka had told him about that reporter, looking for something to damage the Academia's reputation. There was lots, if one knew where to look, what to say. But the Academia guarded its secrets well, and not necessarily by force or secrecy.

They were like a family who didn't sell other families out. He hadn't seen much of it in his day. They'd lost friends then. Been betrayed. And there'd been no-one to bring things back. They'd only gone on. Forgotten. Changed.

Yusuke had seen that. Ryou had not. Both of them, perhaps, had made bad choices regarding that. But Yusuke would be graduating next year. Three years at the Academia after his return from the Darkness. One year after, because his body and mind had needed to recover first.

Ryou was resting now.

He wondered if Edo had found a home, and his peace, at Duel Academy. He'd eventually finished his formal education – though a great deal more sporadically than most other students. In fact, he was doubtful Edo had enough attendance credit at all – but then again, Judai had been lacking in that department too, and Chronos had come up with quite the pile of homework to replace it.

Ryou couldn't say he envied that alternative. He'd never been a fan of homework, however diligent he'd been at completing it. Duelling was another matter: bread and butter, life and soul. Watching Edo on screen with that snarky yet lazy little smirk on his lips, hearing him call out those card names that fell so easily from his lips and slip the cards themselves into disks like he could do it in his sleep made him want to get his duel disk out of the briefcase he'd carefully put it in and duel. But he was saving that. The doctors didn't want him doing anything too strenuous before his operation and he didn't want to give them a reason to take away his cards and duel disk entirely. Not yet, anyhow. He stood by what he'd said three years ago. He was going to choose the way he died, and he would choose duelling over anything else: lying down and waiting, asleep on an operating table…

If it couldn't be helped, it couldn't be helped. And he wasn't dying in the next few days, he thought. But a death before he could have that duel would be a death he would come to regret – whether that was in any afterlife that existed or next life or whatever happened after one died. Even if nothing happened at all. The last moments, knowing there was something he'd wanted so badly to do but didn't, would be the worst…

Then he chuckled. He was feeling fine at the moment, watching Edo give his opponent a good trouncing with both words and cards. Wasn't even worth Edo's time; he wondered why the other had wanted them to watch, but figured that was just Edo's part in the cheering him up campaign. It had quietened down a little, but when he'd been admitted for the long stay, he'd gotten a rather long stream of phone calls and visitors. Even Chronos had shown up at his bedside and shed a good many tears.

Ryou had wondered how many tears the good professor would shed at his funeral, then tossed the thought out because it had been so macabre. But it wasn't the first macabre thought he'd had, nor the last. Nor was he particularly concerned, his heart having already stopped a number of times over the years. And he'd already had one open heart surgery and walked on for a good three years.

It had been quite unfortunate timing, as despite the state of the world then, he would have liked to be able to duel for his life. But he'd had no deck at all back then. And still unable to move much off the wheelchair.

'Edo should stop playing around,' Asuka said disapprovingly, when the American skipped over a chance to attack. 'He hasn't shown any mind for strategy that will make use of his extra lives.'

'It's all in good fun,' Fubuki disagreed. 'I imagine the fans who paid for their seats would be quite disappointed in the match ended early. They want a good show.'

'The professional duelling world is a strange one,' said Shou. He'd learned much about it in helping his brother establish their own circuit: smaller, fairer and more evolving, or so they hoped. There was still quite a bit to iron out, namely how to encourage such evolutions in decks and duellists, but what had gone well so far was keeping money-louters and those who thrived off public opinion far away. It helped that they had good friends in equally good positions: Edo and Manjyoume with their financial backings, Duel Academia with their prestige, Momoe and Junko who, while working with children, had learned the ins and outs of promoting unity and teamwork, Hayato who worked at Industrial Illusions and saw quite closely the evolving face of cards and card designs. Though it would be more accurate to say they were all Shou's friends. Even Judai, who'd pulled strings in invisible places – or places only he seemed to know about.

Ryou may have come up with the idea, but it was Shou who had made it happen. And that was okay, because it was an idea, not a dream. He was an individual. Not a leader, though he knew there were many at Duel Academia who'd looked up to him. Not as many as those who'd looked up to Judai. Or Shou. Or Asuka or Fubuki or Manjyome or all those other successful people of that generation. It was a passing thought, if other people could grow like Shou had, could evolve…

What he'd wanted most was to evolve himself. And he had. Or might have. It was hard to know, because he didn't duel the same any more. No more underground. No more long and invigorating duels that bore on the body because his chest would ache before the end of it. More often than not it had been his body that withdrew from the match before his mind. His heart stuttering or his breath catching one too many times in his throat and making his vision spot.

And then a blood clot floating around from somewhere had gotten stuck and caused his second major heart attack. Unless the ones in the other world had counted too. He wasn't sure. He wasn't a medical expert and nor were any witnesses to say otherwise. And he'd been signed up for a longer stay. The clot had been sent on its way and several tests afterwards checked out the consequences. And decided he needed another surgery before he could back on his feet. And a stress-free life thereafter.

Ryou couldn't say he was happy with that. Limitations were not things he worked with. Creating an entire other duelling circuit may not be his dream, but experiencing the greatest duel was. A duel with the duel disks, with the holograms. With an opponent that would stand and grin at him as he beat him down. Who he could exchange equal blows with. Who would transcend that limit of his body, mind and soul – that limit he'd five years ago called perfection.


	3. Chapter 3

**Last Duel of No Regrets  
**_Chapter 3_

Five years ago, he'd called Yuki Judai the one to transcend perfection – and he'd done that. Slipping back. Clawing forward. Slipping back again. Much like he himself had. And yet he'd lacked something. He hadn't taken that something away from Duel Academia until after he'd returned. He'd been unfortunate, blind…or a fool.

But he had it now. And that desire to duel still stirred in his soul. So long as Judai heard the plea, wherever he was. So long as he came.

Ryou did not think "before it was too late". That was the voice of regret, and he didn't want regret.

Missing the tail-end of Edo's duel because his thoughts had drifted far off track…that, he didn't mind. Edo would update him anyway, and listening to recounts of duels was a relatively good way to pass the time at the hospital. And the doctors couldn't complain. It was hardly strenuous.

And, sure enough, Edo called him a few days later, conveniently when Shou had gone with Fubuki to see Asuka off. Or maybe on purpose. Edo had an uncanny ability of knowing things. Part of that had to do with his working relationship with Manjyoume and his access, therefore, to the Manjyoume Group. Some of it was just plain Edo – the bit of him that had managed to get under his skin initially but that had, also, paved the way for a friendship.

'What's up?' he asked, sounding like he always did. Not particularly excited, not particularly tired – almost the same tone he would address anyone that wasn't a child or his worst enemy in, but Ryou was the same so he knew where to look for the differences.

'A ceiling,' Ryou responded dryly. 'The same one I've been staring at for weeks now.'

'The ceiling.' There was fake surprise in the tone. 'Not your cards plastered to them?'

'Afraid not.' The cards were in the drawer. Staring at them wasn't going to give him an opponent. Especially when his room was empty save for him. 'I can only look at them for so long without an opponent.'

'Shame.' And Edo hummed. 'You can grab the next poor nurse that wanders past.'

If Ryou had not been Ryou, he would have snorted in amusement then. 'That poor nurse is probably not going to know which end of the card is up,' he replied. 'That won't be much fun – and you know full well I don't have the patience to teach anyone.'

'Your little brother is enough testament of that,' Edo agreed, 'though in that case, your inability might be a good thing.'

'That would be Juudai's doing,' Ryou shrugged. And it was. He doubted Shou would have come that far if he hadn't the fortune of meeting Yuki Juudai. And if none of those things had happened: the Stars, the Light of Ruin, the sandy three-sunned world, the Dark World… Even the battle against Darkness.

'A lot of things are Juudai's doing,' Edo agreed. 'But the world goes on.'

That was his way of saying they were in a much larger world than school now. And they were doing their own things.

Even if Ryou's was lying around in a hospital room.

'You haven't heard from him lately, have you?' he asked.

'Afraid not.' And he sounded sorry. It took Ryou a moment to realise it was a response to his own tone.

**.**

Edo had an interview or something to prepare for so he hung up too soon, and Ryou went back to staring at the ceiling.

That was far too boring.

He switched to his phone. No point disturbing Shou and Fubuki…or Asuka for the same reason. So who could he call. Who did he want to talk too.

Juudai, really. But he tried the number and it was out of range. Just as it had been since his admission.

He scrolled through his contacts. There were precious few of them. Then he stopped at one and glanced at the clock.

Then he shrugged. Time conversions weren't really his thing.

He gave Johan Anderson a call.

'Hey,' the boy said. 'Wasn't expecting a call from you.'

But he was amiable. Sounding as cheerful and full of energy as he always was.

'Neither was I,' Ryou replied.

Johan laughed. 'You sound bored.'

'I am bored,' Ryou agreed. 'There's nothing to do but stare at the ceiling.'

'Ah.' The younger boy made a noise of sympathy. 'A visit would do nicely.'

'My visitors have left just over an hour ago.'

'That would do it.' Ryou thought he could hear some sort of chirping as well, but decided he must be imagining things. 'I'm afraid it'll take me a day at least to get there. But if you don't mind me dropping by tomorrow…'

Which was going above and beyond what Ryou had called for. 'I don't mean to call you away from your duties…'

'No duties.' Johan laughed. 'Haven't been doing much with myself lately. 'xcept with the Gem Beasts. And they're happy to see that Cyber End Dragon of yours again.'

'Really?' Ryou asked dryly. He supposed the other meant happy in the sense of itching for another battle. 'You do realise Shou has Cyber End Dragon now, right?'

'I never did get to duel him.' Johan hummed to himself. 'Still, I'm curious to see your deck too, you know? Got any of them new shiny cards?'

'A few,' Ryou said.

For Johan, it seemed that just sweetened the deal.

Juudai might have grown up, but he didn't think Johan had.

Shame him growing up also made him harder to get hold of.

He tried the number again after Johan had hung up. Nothing.

**.**

It was something to look forward to, in any case. Shou and Fubuki took a while in getting back, but once they did, Fubuki pulled out his guitar and played until a nurse chased him out.

It had been more amusing the first few times, but there was still amusement to be found there. And perhaps the security thought so as well, for they did not bar him nor his guitar in a permanent fashion.

Sadly, that had happened before they could have a mock match on his mattress, so that task fell to Shou again.

'You must be getting bored, playing only me,' he remarked, the mattress sagging a little with his additional weight as he shuffled his deck. They'd managed to slip in one tag duel, with two sibling teams.

'Johan said he'll be coming tomorrow,' Ryou shrugged, 'or the day after. It'll be a good change of pace.

'Johan…' A shadow crossed Shou's face, before he nodded thoughtfully. 'He might beat this new deck of yours.'

It had taken quite a bit of work and testing before he'd been able to defeat Shou's deck with this one. But duelling to test one's limits was very different to duelling for something else. Juudai, and Johan too, would call it fun. He was more inclined to call it passion.

Ryou finished shuffling his cards and cut his brother's. Shou cut his, before drawing himself a hand. 'You go first?'

Ryou did so. He hadn't made any modifications to his deck since Fubuki and Asuka had arrived, but it became apparent in a few turns that Shou had. Probably something he'd picked up in a pack earlier, because he couldn't see Shou stopping by the card shop in the last few days.

And then he blinked at the field spell laid down. 'I have never seen this card.'

'Hayato sent it,' Shou said, running his fingers over the card. It looks glossy, and Ryou felt it as well. Smooth. Just like a new card.

'One of his creations, I presume?' Shou had a few cards like that. A couple that were custom. Most that were prototypes or special editions. He'd seen some of Juudai's in action too. Skyscraper 2: Hero City was one of those, though it seemed Skyscraper was still his favourite one. Even after Neospacia. And the Neospacians.

He'd heard that the Neospacian support cards were done mostly by Hayato as well. Quite an honour granted from Pegasus, he thought. Though it probably helped that the one who owned the only copy of Neospacians in the world (unless Pegasus still had his rumoured habit of keeping at least one copy of every card in existence and then some) belonged to one of Hayato's closest friends.

Hayato, when he'd heard Ryou was building a new deck from scratch, had sent a few as well. A dragon that seemed to resemble Cyber End Dragon in its design, but was different. Not as strong as first glance. Not as easy to summon. But it had the potential to become lots of things. Like Cyber Dark. Like Juudai's Neos.

That card became the headliner of his new deck and he was grateful for it. He had less pride now than back in his Academia days, so there was no reason to turn down the gift. And it had solved a dilemma for him: of where to begin, of what to keep of the past and what to start anew.

Now it was just fine tuning. Testing. Playing. Pushing at boundaries.

The trouble was, there was one particular boundary he'd been aching for for years, and it was not to be found in a hospital room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Last Duel of No Regrets  
**_Chapter 4_

Johan managed to sneak in before visiting hours ended, but only just. In fact, he had to cajole the nurse into allowing him more than a few moments. The fact that he'd come from overseas worked in his favour, and his polite manner as well.

The nurse let him stay. And they had a nice chat before Ryou's evening medication had him fast asleep.

He was there the next day too, with Shou – who Johan sent off for some rest after an hour or two. 'Those dark rings around your eyes are saying you've had no sleep,' he scolded.

'I have,' Shou insisted, but he was grateful for the additional time to rest. He'd been at the hospital every day for weeks, and Ryou felt a pang as he left.

If the lack of company weren't so intolerable, he would have chased Shou off himself, and Fubuki for that matter because the both of them spent every non-working, non-sleeping visitation hour with him. But he was far from a patient man. He could not sit in silence for hours on end and the television had not much interesting to show. It was a shame the most passionate and heartfelt duels were not broadcasted at all, or on only special channels. But then again, the fiercest duels didn't oft take place on a large stage. They could be anywhere. For anything. Involving anyone.

If he remembered correctly, only one of Juudai's duels had ever been broadcasted. His one with Manjyoume back in Ryou's final year. The school duel.

Went to show how underappreciated the real heroes, those truly bright ones, wound up in the end.

Funny how so many had likened him to the sun but he'd wound up with the powers of Darkness in the end. Gentle Darkness, but darkness nonetheless. Same went for Fubuki.

That was an interesting thought and kept him entertained during the two hour respite in the day. Why they didn't allow visitors during lunch, he didn't know. It only left more time to be bored.

But Johan was, overall, a nice change of pace. Just like Ryou had thought he would be. He and those Gem Beasts that Ryou couldn't see (nor could Shou or Fubuki for that matter) had plenty of new tales. Fubuki had been running low on those. And he had a very different way of duelling. A way that came close to Juudai's, but wasn't quite his. After all, Juudai had more than eight monsters to juggle and none of them could sneak into magic card zones. For Johan, it was actually possible to have them all on the field at the same time.

And not only possible, but advantageous as well.

It was interesting trying to work around that. To his surprise, the simple tactic worked: Cyclone. But Johan pointed out that it wasn't a whole lot of fun removing one of his Gem Beasts from the field that way, and Ryou juggled around with a few more ideas. Muryokuka Dragon managed to destroy one after its effect got triggered – which was one they had to test with the Duel Disks because they weren't too sure if "negate the effect of a magic card and destroy it" included Ruby Carbuncle while it was there as a continuous magic car. But it did, and Muryokuka managed to save Ryou from having to deal with a field full of Gem Beasts.

Until Rainbow Dragon appeared the following turn of course.

Still, he won all their duels. Johan was strong, but so were Shou and Fubuki and Ryou had been duelling for a long time, with lots of different opponents. He'd even faced Yubel in Johan's body: a Yubel that had pushed Johan's deck beyond the limits Johan was willing to allow it. Johan was a strong duellist, yes, but he lacked something.

'What do you think it is?' Johan asked curiously. Of course he was curious. Everybody wanted to get stronger after all. Some just had their limits.

'Conviction?' Ryou suggested. 'I'm sorry. I'm just…'

'Comparing me to Juudai.' Johan didn't look offended in the least, just amused. 'You won't believe the number of people in Duel Academia who used to do that. Including your brother, actually.'

'Shou did.' Ryou looked thoughtful. 'Juudai is…a very special friend to him.'

'Don't I know it.' Johan shook his head. 'I'm sure you can find a lot of people who'd say the same about Juudai.'

That was true enough.

**.**

'Have you heard from Juudai lately?' Ryou asked.

'Afraid not,' Johan replied, after turning to the side and whispering something first. One of the Gem Beasts, Ryou assumed. That's what it usually was when he started talking to thin air. And if it was Manjyoume, then the Ojamas. For Juudai…well, back when he was a student at Duel Academia, he'd guess Hane Kuriboh, but he had many other choices now. 'He might be in the Dark World. Or somewhere where there's no reception. Have you tried Pegasus?'

Ryou coughed. He might have been greatly admired in the duelling circuit once upon a time but he could hardly ring up the founder of Industrial Illusions personally.

Johan hummed when he said as much. 'Actually, I can't either. Maybe O'brien can, but I think… Oh, your principal can, can't he?'

That was true. Principal Samejima could contact Pegasus directly.

'I'll try later,' he said, looking at the bedside clock. It was afternoon classes at the academy by that time. And he knew Samejima liked to use the breath of time for other things. Personal training. Some time with Dorothy. Chasing up faculty things and whatever else a Principal did.

'I wouldn't worry,' Johan said. 'Juudai has a habit of popping up when you need him, phone or no.'

**.**

A few days later, and Ryou had not made the call to his old Principal. The reason was that he'd come down with a brief bout of pneumonia and was just starting to recover from it. Johan had stayed with Fubuki during the time. He hadn't made previous arrangements and Fubuki had offered. He didn't even know the other well, if Ryou recalled correctly - after the fuzziness in his head and body from those antibiotics they'd doused him with had started to wear of.

Things were a great deal quieter. Visitors had to come in with plastic aprons, gloves that went up to their elbows and masks that covered most of their faces. Fubuki took great delight in drawing on the white until they looked a little flashier – until he was barred entry. Health checks had gotten more stringent after the infection. And visiting hours had been cut. And everybody had to be careful with what they touched. Shou at least convinced them to leave the deck and duel mat. It had been there since Ryou's admission, Shou argued. And the hospital accepted that. They couldn't do much about bugs that grew inside the hospital after all.

A week later, his voice was feeling better and he thought he was up to a phone call. And he was feeling more awake too, awake enough that he wouldn't fall asleep in a couple of hours. Awake enough so that he was starting to feel restlessness settling in again. And Fubuki and Johan had gone back to Fubuki's apartment. Shou wouldn't be coming until after lunch. He had something to follow up. And he didn't have any tests until after lunch either. No nurses to knock on the door for a phial of blood or something else.

But a knock on the door managed to interrupt him anyway.

'Come in,' he said, a little hoarsely.

'Sounding a little worse for wear, 'eh Kaiser.'

Ryou stared at the door. Once, there were few who did not call him Kaiser. Now, there were few who did, and only one who did so regularly.

Juudai did look a little ridiculous in plastic garb, but he looked like Juudai nonetheless.

'I've been trying to call…' Ryou broke off. It sounded whiny, and needy, and he wasn't either of those things.

'I was in the Dark World,' Juudai supplied. 'I saw your missed calls – and when there's about twenty from you and only single digit amounts from everybody else, I figured I'd drop by in person.' He paused for a moment. 'Ok, twenty-three.'

Ryou blinked. He hadn't realised he'd called so many times. He assumed it was Hane Kuriboh. Or Neos. Or Yubel. Or a new companion he'd picked up on one of his journeys.

He realised Juudai was looking him over. 'You do look rather rough.'

'I had a cold,' Ryou said. 'And a blood clot.'

'You also look restless.'

Ryou laughed aloud. Even Juudai who hadn't been there for five minutes yet could tell. 'I've been waiting for a duel with you for five years, you know.'

'Yeah…' His voice trailed off. 'We never did finish that graduation duel, did we? Though I'm afraid I have to say mine eclipses yours.'

'Your graduation duel? With Darkness?' He hadn't heard the full details of that, but every person on earth – and perhaps some not on earth – had heard Juudai's speech at the end.

But Juudai shook his head. 'With Yugi Mutou.'

Ryou struggled to sit up. How had Shou not told him about this?

But Juudai was gently pushing him back down, before plopping onto one of the hospital chairs. 'It's a bit of a long story.'

Ryou half-smiled. He'd planned to nap before lunch but he didn't need it now. 'Then shall we duel first?'

'Can you think of any ways to convince the nursing staff to give my deck back first? I had to sneak Yubel in, but the rest…' Because Yubel was a part of his soul, Ryou assumed. He wasn't sure about the particulars, but it made sense for him needing to keep Yubel in particular near.

Though considering all the places Juudai and his deck had been, begging the rest of the cards back from the staff would be a feat. But they tried anyway.

* * *

**A/N:** Muryokuka Dragon is an OC card. So is the new ace of Ryou's mentioned in the previous chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

**Last Duel of No Regrets  
**_Chapter 5_

Asuka was perhaps the only person not pleased to hear that Juudai was there, if only because she'd missed him.

'You couldn't have come two weeks earlier,' she scolded over the phone.

'Sorry,' Juudai responded, sounding a little sheepish. Maybe he was remembering all the times back at school when Asuka had scolded him. He'd certainly earned them…or most of them. Quibbles about homework, about sleeping in, about showing up to class on time – Ryou had heard the tale that would probably become an urban legend of Duel Academia as well: how Chronos had not wanted to pass them. In truth, Juudai had been the only one in danger of failing. And he'd had to work quite hard at the end to catch up.

And it was a mark of how Juudai had grown up – or, at least, how he understood that a graduation certificate was _important_ because he also had it on good authority that Juudai had tried to, literally, drop out – that he hadn't complained terribly about the work load but done it, and earned his graduation certificate. Not at the top of the class where he could have been if he'd had a better worth ethic…but Juudai and books and not frantically rushing didn't seem to go together.

Juudai was simply too restless for that, inside and out.

Ryou thought himself as calm and patient on the outside, but restless underneath.

But it was a different sort of restlessness back then, when he was still in school. A hole left when Yuusuke and Fubuki disappeared. When he was the top of the school by a landslide and there was no-one to challenge him. No-one to even stand up to him. No-one to talk to him like an equal. Not even his little brother who'd been terrified, unconfident and exhibiting the air of not belonging.

And then Juudai had come along and challenged him. Stared at him boldly. Argued against him. Lifted his duel disk and he didn't back down when Ryou accepted the challenge.

And he came very close to winning as well. Ryou had no doubt, by the look on his face when he drew his cards, that whichever two cards he had drown from Bubbleman's effect were game-changes. Hane Kuriboh and Evolving Wings was his guess, since he hadn't played them immediately. Some combination that he needed to normal summon a monster for. Something he couldn't do after playing Bubbleman. He'd never actually asked. It didn't matter, since he'd won.

But his soul had been itching for a rematch ever since. Waiting patiently as Juudai gained more experience. Became stronger. Battled Misawa. Battle Manjyoume. Battled the Seven Stars – or a good many of them in any case. Even Camula who had beaten him – even if everyone insisted it did not count.

Nor did he want to have won that duel after he'd learnt what it would have cost him. They might not have had the best relationship then, but he loved his brother. He always loved his brother.

But before Shou calmed the out of control fire burning inside of him, Juudai lit it.

Not that he regretted it. If he had, he would not still ache to duel the boy so badly. He'd been interesting since the day he'd shown up for his exam, bedraggled and late but confident, so confident. And he'd defeated Chronos and his legendary deck. He'd made a name for himself from the offset. And he'd had Kuriboh – Hane Kuriboh. Looking eerily similar to the Kuriboh that belonged to the King of Games himself, except for its wings. And how he'd talked to his shoulder – or Hane Kuriboh. The whole school, old students and new, had seen it. But few noted it. And fewer remembered it. Even when it happened time and time again. Only his friends (and enemies, perhaps) seemed to remember he could see the spirits of his deck.

It was remarkable how unobservant people could be, sometimes.

He said that, to Juudai, expecting him to laugh and add a little epigraph. He was surprised when the other didn't.

'Professor Satou said the same.' His voice was sad, and a little dull. Then, after a moment and with a glance to his right, he added. 'I know, Yubel.'

Ryou's brow furrowed in confusion. 'Professor Satou took history, if I recall.' He wasn't a very memorable teacher. Monotonous and ignorant of the happenings of his class beyond his lesson plan. One could only learn if they followed him: his prescribed readings, the pages he read from, and his questions.

'Third year…' Juudai trailed off, then begun again. 'You know the Professor Cobra story, right?'

That was a tactful way of asking if he knew about the beginnings of the Yubel story, but he could hardly say that now.

Ryou nodded. What he hadn't learned from the principal, Shou had told him afterwards. And there had been something about Professor Satou's involvement, if he recalled.

'Cobra ordered him to duel against me,' Juudai explained, either as a refresher or a lead in. Either worked. 'During the duel, we talked.'

And, of course, by talking he meant exchanging banter that ranged from fairly innocent to quite debilitating on a mental scale. Ryou, having competed on the national level, knew that well. He'd fallen heavily in such an exchange with Edo Phoenix as well. And managed to stand up against Yubel's.

'He said the same thing.' Juudai finished his little tale. 'Or something similar. That the students of the Academia were growing blind. Following my lead. Not even seeing the rubbish left on the ground…and how that was worse than seeing and ignoring it.'

Ryou didn't need to ask to see that event was an important stepping stone to the reign of Haou.

'You grew up,' he said calmly.

'I did.' Juudai nodded. 'Oh right, I never did tell you how I duelled Yugi.'

He hadn't. They'd been interrupted the last time and Juudai had gone with Shou. Because, of course, Shou wouldn't let Juudai stay with anyone else after sharing a dorm for two and a half years. And Fubuki really only had room for one so there weren't too many alternative options in any case. Juudai's casual comment that he could sleep in the backyard had been quickly shot down, as amusing at it was.

He probably did find a nice tree or patch of grass when he was on one of his travels though.

Ryou needed to ask if there were any new stories, considering they wouldn't be able to duel until Ryou had been cleared for contact again. Which was unfortunate, particularly when the opponent he'd longed for had finally arrived. The impatience prickled at him even through his tiredness – and he was getting better by the day.

But first, there was another story.

'Shou wrote to you, I think.'

Ryou nodded. Shou hadn't written to him many times in his life, so he knew which letters Juudai was referring to. After their return from the Dark World. Shou's sadness that Juudai had not returned with them. His jubilance when he appeared later. His…disappointment, for lack of a better term, when Juudai had seemed changed, unrecognisable. No longer having fun when duelling – in fact, he'd been rushing. Shou had written about the tag duel against the principal and Tome-san, and Ryou had winced upon reading the account. Harsh was the only word he could think of – and he'd been honestly surprised to see Asuka hadn't slapped him for it.

Or she might have done it somewhere where Shou couldn't see.

'What's funny?' Juudai asked curiously.

'Wondering whether Asuka slapped you or not,' Ryou replied. Some people got caught out by questions like that. Not him.

Juudai shrugged. Whether it was a "no" or a "yeah, but I deserved it," Ryou wasn't sure. 'Anyway, I wasn't having fun duelling anymore. Too many things had gone wrong. Too many people hurt. Too many…I'd thought were dead. Or I'd killed.' His voice was even, but his eyes displayed that old anguish, even now. 'It had become far more than a game. Than something fun. Too many emotions. Too many memories.'

Ryou understood. Perhaps not to the extent of Juudai because, in comparison, his life-experiences had been rather tame. Except the underground. And the heart issues. And the current hospital admission.

He wondered how Juudai would do trapped in a hospital room. Escape through another dimension possibly.

He swallowed the temptation to ask. He was outwardly patient, after all. And he knew full well such an endeavour would not help him in the end, regardless of whether other words had infections or such.

'Yugi came to Duel Academia on our graduation day.'

That seemed a little left-field before Ryou realised Juudai was simply continuing his story. 'Shou didn't mention this,' he remarked.

'Shou didn't know, I imagine.' Juudai shrugged. 'He wasn't at the main hall, or the audience. Or at the party I think.'

Ryou knew Juudai had skipped the party in favour of departing early.

'I was leaving but Hane Kuriboh led me to where Yugi's replica deck was on display,' Juudai continued. 'And Yugi was there. With his Kuriboh. And he told me I'd grown since the day he gave me Hane Kuriboh, but I'd lost something in the process.'

That was another thing Ryou hadn't known: that Hane Kuriboh had come from Yugi himself. He'd thought it was a rare find in a card pack, or the prize of a tournament. If he were Fubuki, he would probably have given a low whistle. 'And you kept this a secret?'

Juudai shrugged. 'Hane Kuriboh is Hane Kuriboh. It didn't really matter for the most part where he came from.'

Ryou supposed that was true, to an extent. Cyber End Dragon had been inherited, but he had developed a close bond with it. And Cyber Dark Dragon had been originally his, but it was Shou who had understood him. But… 'Weren't you the one you said the cards had memories?' He half-smiled.

'Of course.' Juudai either didn't see or ignored the contradiction. He knew Ryou understood him and that was what mattered. 'Anyway, Yugi told me he knew an opponent who would help me regain that. Someone stronger than him.'

'Stronger than the King of Games?'

Juudai laughed, and Ryou wondered if something akin to shock had snuck into his tone. 'I thought that too. But he told me to hold Hane Kuriboh above the deck and I did, and I met the Yugi in the past in some pocket of time.'

It was a strange comment, suggesting that Yugi of the past was stronger than Yugi of the present. Ryou didn't bother questioning the "pocket of time" part. Stranger things had happened in his time. Though, he remembered suddenly, the younger Yugi also had…

'He was referring to the Pharaoh,' Juudai said, almost at the same time the thought crossed Ryou's face. 'And duelling against The Sky Dragon Orisis was probably the most amazing duel I will ever play.'

'It is hard to match up to an Egyptian God,' Ryou agreed, after a pause. The God cards had long been lost…or destroyed. So to duel against one was something…amazing. That word failed to do the concept even a shred of justice.

And, of course, this was the duellist who'd defeated the phantom demons as well. Though, if anyone listened to Juudai on that account, he'd say the first victory was due to Daitokuji's miracle card, and the second to Johan Anderson and Rainbow Dragon.

But he'd heard from Shou. And it hadn't been Johan Anderson or that pretty dragon of his that had destroyed the Emperor of Divine Flames.

Not for the first time, Ryou thought of how far the Juudai who had, knee deep in the ocean, challenged him, had come. But he had rarely looked back at himself and thought how mediocre he felt in comparison.


	6. Chapter 6

**Last Duel of No Regrets  
**_Chapter 6_

Ryou's enthusiasm had, briefly blunted. But Juudai had caught on too quickly, laughed, and claimed that Orisis had burnt Neos to a crisp. And then, by the sounds of it, gotten rebuked by said spirit for the wording.

It was hard not to laugh at that. And, unfortunately, Fubuki had chosen that moment to walk through the door with Johan in toe, and had caught sight of his expression.

The days were longer and less boring now. The feeling of inadequacy was once again replaced by his itch, but the desire to challenge something above, something out of reach. Wasn't that what he'd been waiting for, after all? The infection was taking too long to clear.

But with Juudai there, there was suddenly a lot more to talk about. Juudai had tales of recent travels, but it was beyond that. Ryou even heard a few new stories from Shou – Shou who had barely left his side since his surgery, back at Duel Academia. Juudai had tales of the Dark World as well, and though he was more cautious, he spoke of those as well. About friend and enemy alike who was reincarnated, and, slowly, reformed.

Or they were running around causing trouble of a lesser kind, like the goblins. They seemed to be like a gang on the street. Dogs whose tails one could never keep straight.

They weren't quite what he was waiting for, but now the day seemed to be days or weeks away instead of in some fuzzy semblance of the future. In the Dark World, it had been impossible. After he'd seized the initiative. After he'd challenged Juudai to a duel. It had been too soon. Or just the hammer of sense that had needed to be smacked on his brunet head.

And he'd never had a chance, enough time or a deck he thought to do it with, after.

But the time was coming, soon. And it made him feel energetic. Refreshed. And impatient.

He didn't think of what was beyond that. What could be beyond that. Why he was still there. Why, when the infection slowly got better, his heart felt heavier, more sluggish. Why, even as he recovered, he was needing to rest more. Why he felt he was saving himself.

He'd known he would die like this. Years ago. In the Dark World. At Duel Academia. Now.

He knew two more things. That he wanted to have the greatest duel he could before that. And that duel was with Juudai.

He also knew he wanted to die, figuratively speaking anyway, on his feet. Standing up. Still duelling. Still walking. Anything but lying down and wasting away. He could tolerate it now, only, he knew, because he was waiting for that duel.

He wondered if anyone else saw it.

Of course they did, he figured only moments after the thought crossed his mind. The doctors couldn't keep their prognosis to themselves. Nor did he particularly want them to. He wanted it frank. Straight. An explanation he could understand without years of science and medical knowledge underlining it. They were just like teachers, in a sense. Some were good at explaining things. Some were bad. Some gave the impression it was just a little blot clot. Some told him he was on his death bed.

He refused a death bed, so long as that choice was still in his hands. A daytime nap was a description he felt was more accurate.

And then, finally, his patience wore off. They dropped the contact precautions. His visitors no longer had to be covered head to toe. They could bring things in to him again. Liven the place up with more than chatter.

Of course, the first thing he asked – or demanded, as Fubuki said – was for Juudai to bring his deck and duel disk so they could duel.

They escaped to the roof for that, otherwise a nurse was sure to see and interrupt them. They didn't often, because the roof was cold and windy and Ryou was supposed to avoid such environments, but it was the best place to duel and duel undisturbed.

And he wore his robe. Though he got out of his wheelchair when they got to the top. He was going to duel standing.

Shou, surprisingly, did not rebuke the duel disks. He wasn't supposed to use them. Shou knew that. Ryou knew it too. And Fubuki and Johan. Maybe Juudai knew as well, or had been told. But nobody stopped him from clipping one to his arm. And nobody stopped Juudai.

Shou did not rebuke the lack of wheelchair either.

Ryou knew he understood.

Juudai grinned at him. His face, his eyes, they revealed nothing at seeing Ryou, frailer than he'd ever been and wrapped more thickly too, opposing him. 'I don't know much about your new deck,' he called. And he didn't. Only its key card. Only because that had been too important to keep a secret. 'I'm looking forward to seeing it in action now.'

'I'm looking forward to seeing what changes you've made to yours as well,' Ryou said back. His voice wasn't as strong as it used to be, but they could all hear him. Strong voice. Strong legs. Strong hand. All important things in a duel. All things he would, for that hour or two or however long it took, have.

He was breathing a little harder than normal already. And he could feel his heart, protesting. It hadn't had such effort for a month, or more. He ignored both. He would ignore both, until they brought him to his knees and then only if he could fight it no more.

'Come at me, Juudai!'

Juudai did.

**.**

It was every bit the duel Ryou had dreamed of. No match with Orisis, or the Phantom Demons, but it didn't matter to him because he had never faced them. Instead, he faced the best of Juudai's deck. Flame Wingman. Neos. Yubel. Their many combinations. Their many fusions. Their many forms.

It lasted long. Both of them had started that duel not to win but to play for as long as they could, and it showed in their moves. Showed in their slow start. In their even blows. If Juudai had duelled the way he had before his graduation, Ryou had no doubt he would have been defeated long before. But they had a different intent, a different rhythm. A duel that could end in three turns could also go on for ten, or more, and not because of punches pulled. It was to expand the field. Expand the play. Expand the game.

Ryou wanted to reach something high, and Juudai was offering it.

Then, finally, Evolving Dragon at its strongest, at level twelve, against Neos Wiseman.

And then the game ended. Still prematurely, except Ryou felt his body really could not go any more. Not then. He could die on his feet and it would be a wonderful death, but Juudai would not allow it. He would not be the hand to do it. He doubted Shou would allow it either, as much as he understood. They were still children, in his eyes. Even after growing up.

He smiled.

**.**

The doctors scolded him quite viciously and Juudai had needed to sneak in afterwards because they weren't too pleased with him either – or all of them, but Fubuki was dropping Johan at the airport then. It was no use talking for a few days though. But, finally, Ryou opened his eyes to see Juudai there and he had a stray thought in his mind he had to day.

'I do wish I could have seen God Neos.'

Juudai chucked softly, and a little sadly too. 'God Neos has only ever appeared once. Against Darkness.'

Ryou supposed he couldn't measure up to the Darkness.

His mattress sagged. Juudai had taken a seat near the end. 'I don't pull punches.' His voice had dropped further, and taken on a serious tone. 'You know that.'

Ryou did.

'We had a good duel.'

Ryou cracked his eyes open again. Juudai was smiling. Not quite that silly little grin he wore often in the past, but the sort that said "it's alright now."

'There is a long gap between us.' Ryou said that lightly, but he remembered their graduation match. What he'd said then. Perfection against limitless potential. And Shou – opening the door to him to strive beyond perfection. 'I have fallen behind.'

'You are still one of the strongest duellists I've met.' And he said that honestly. 'And your new deck is strong as well. And it suits you. The two of you will grow stronger.'

Ryou laughed. 'I wonder.' They both knew what he was talking about. Though Ryou wondered if that naiveté of his had returned – or, if in such matters, Juudai had not managed to grow up after all.

Juudai stood up again. The weight on the mattress vanished. 'You haven't duelled Orisis.'

Ryou would have snorted if he could have. His inhibitions seemed to have faded into satisfaction and fatigue. 'I don't have anything that'll take me through time.'

'You haven't duelled God Neos.'

Ryou accepted that. He hadn't.

The room seemed a little lighter. Juudai was heading for the door, it seemed. 'Let's have another duel, Kaiser,' he said, before he opened it and the light flooded. 'In another world or life if not in this one.'

'Sure,' Ryou said tiredly, closing his eyes.

'Then it's settled.' And the door closed.

**.**

'Aniki's left,' Shou said later, when he came to visit.

Ryou noted belatedly that Shou had never fallen out of the habit of calling Juudai that.

'He promised me a duel,' he said. He was still feeling drowsy. He'd been feeling drowsy since the duel. He wasn't sure if it was the medications or the strain. And he didn't, at that moment, really care. 'With God Neos, this time.'

'Really?' Shou sounded surprised, but a little happy as well. 'That's good. Something to look forward to…I guess.' He said those last words quietly and Ryou assumed that, over the hum of the machines, he wasn't supposed to hear. But he heard. That doubt. That understanding.

He might die tomorrow. Or he might live for another day, another duel. He'd had a duel he wouldn't regret, and the promise of another one.

He wondered if the regret of not facing a God would stilt him.

But he'd never really wanted to face a God. Just the strong.

Just the ones who pushed the boundaries of perfection.


End file.
